How to: Dig a Garden Patch Using Only a Shovel

I've always been a big fan of eating good food. But I also can't leave well enough alone, so eating led me to cooking, and cooking led me to gardening.

Originally a means to an end, now there are few things that give me greater happiness than stepping out the back door in the middle of summer and walking across my backyard to the roughly 20' x 30' patch of dirt full of rows of tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, squash, and greens.

When I first bought my house and decided to transform the patch of grass into our home garden, I didn't own a rototiller, but I did have a $20 shovel, an internet connection, and a spare can of elbow grease. After compiling the ideas from several gardening sites and testing it out on my half-acre slice of North Carolina, I had myself a beautifully productive vegetable garden. 

Here's a brief primer on how you can hand-dig your own patch using the time-honored technique of "double digging."… Continue reading on ManMadeDIY.com

source http://www.manmadediy.com/users/joelselby/posts/4796-how-to-dig-a-garden-patch-using-only-a-shovel